Miami Dolphins: Tua Tagovailoa Should Be MVP Frontrunner

No, that’s not a gotcha headline, the Miami Dolphins have something special in Tua Tagovailoa this season and the young QB deserves that recognition. We can go on and on about Patrick Mahomes and what he’s doing without Tyreek Hill. To be fair, it’s not like he’s working with scrubs and is still getting production out of guys like Travis Kelce, Juju Smith-Schuster, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Not to mention the newly acquired Kadarius Toney and the backfield with Clyde Edwards-Helaire. So the argument that Tua has two of the better receivers in the league doesn’t hold water as Kansas City has just as much talent that’s more spread out.

Without taking anything from Patrick Mahomes, the biggest deciding factor for MVP is how much Tua has elevated his game. If we talk about Coach of the Year candidates the votes usually go to the guy who has made the biggest impact on turning the team around. If you take a look at what Tua Tagovailoa brings to the table, you just have to look at how much the team stalled while he was out with a concussion. The offense just looks better with Tua on the field. As a matter of fact, in the last 16 games, Miami is 15-1 in games that Tagovailoa has started and finished for Miami.

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What we’re seeing out of Mahomes is just as special, but it’s hard to elevate your game when you’re already at the top. Speaking of coaches, that’s another dividing line that has to be considered. Mahomes is playing a future Hall of Fame coach in Andy Reid with a few good years under his head coach belt. Tua Tagovailoa is looking like a star under a first-year head coach. That’s not to say McDaniel doesn’t know his stuff, because he’s proven otherwise, but there is a learning curve for first-time head coaches.

All those are minor considerations and barely scratch the surface of how an MVP should be picked so here are the facts. When you look at the two side by side, Mahomes has more yards (2936 to 2265) and more TDS (25 to 18) but Tua missed two and a half games. When we’re talking heads-up football, Tua has half as many sacks (8 to 16). However, the real stand-out stat is taking care of the football. Patrick Mahomes has 7 interceptions to Tua’s 3. By those numbers, the Miami quarterback throws a 6:1 TD-to-INT ratio whereas Mahomes is just above 3:1.

Yes, Mahomes might be the best quarterback in the league but that’s not what this is about. No one is debating his place as an elite quarterback or arguing that Tua is better. Hell until Tua Tagovailoa wins a Super Bowl that argument will never stand. With that being said, you have to give the young QB some credit. He’s doing exactly what no one else outside of Mike McDaniel thought he could do including some within the Miami Dolphins organization. Remember when Tom Brady or Deshaun Watson was in the mix?

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Tua Tagovailoa took notes and kept those receipts. He’s leading starting quarterbacks in yards per completion at 9.1 and doing so with pinpoint accuracy. Doubters like Sean Payton even stated that Tua would be benched mid-season in favor of Teddy Bridgewater. We already knew what Patrick Mahomes was capable of, but not many believed in this side of Tua Tagovailoa. If his play after a bye week looks anything like it did to start this season, Tua should be the MVP without question and every single naysayer should be all over television with the same energy admitting they were wrong.